All Chapters of Reborn! Princess Leila's Second Chance: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

LeilaThe kitchen smelled like garlic and burnt sugar, a rich, heady mix that clung to my clothes like a second skin. Darren was right—he was so right. He didn't just cook; he breathed life into the food. The lasagna had layers that melted on my tongue, ricotta sweet with a hint of lemon, meat sauce slow-simmered until it tasted like memory. Nothing like the stiff, over-salted dishes at the palace, where chefs cooked to impress, not to care. These plates held something raw, something warm—love, I realized, sharp and sudden as a bruise. Jazz hummed from the speakers, a saxophone winding through the room like a lover's sigh. I'd had three glasses of wine, maybe four. The bay outside the window glittered, a spill of diamonds across the water, each light winking back at the stars like they were in on a secret. Celebration, I thought, fuzzy and warm. Like the world knew I'd finally stumbled into something real. I curled into the sofa, legs tucked under me, and tilted my head back. The ai

JosephineI stared at the ceiling, the pattern on it looked eerily like Leila's smirk. My head throbbed, a dull drumbeat that matched the pulse in my wrist. Morning classes had started an hour ago, but the thought of sitting through calculus made my stomach twist. Not that it mattered. My latest quiz had come back with a D, the red ink bleeding into the paper like a wound. Lucas would've seen it by now. He always did. But no call, no text, nothing. Just silence, thicker than the fog that rolled off the quad.It's that bitch Leila, I thought, digging my nails into the mattress. She's been whispering poison in his ear—lies about me, about us. Lucas used to laugh when Leila accused me of being god-digging nobody."Josephine," he'd say, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, "you know I only have eyes for you." But that was before she started showing up everywhere we went, before he went back to her every night, before Tina opened her big mouth.Tina. The traitor. I should've known bette

JosephineThe cafeteria reeked of burnt toast and lukewarm macaroni, the air thick with the clatter of trays and shrill laughter. I'd barely sat down, my tray scraping against the Formica table, when Fiona's voice cut through the din."Jo, did you see your boyfriend this morning?" Her fork hovered mid-air, pasta sauce flecking the corner of her mouth.Jessica leaned in, chair screeching against the linoleum. "Who is that woman? Why was she in the car with your boyfriend for so long?"My jaw tightened. The headache I'd woken with had sharpened into a blade behind my eyes, and their questions—nosy, relentless—twisted it deeper. I'd spent the morning replaying the image: Lucas's car idling by the west gate, that girl in the passenger seat, sunlight glinting off her hair like a warning."Can you two just shut up?" The words came out harsher than I'd intended, but the relief of saying them burned bright. "I have a splitting headache!"Fiona's fork clattered onto her plate. Jessica's eyes w

LeilaI sighed. "What?"Ryan's eyes were intense, no trace of the earlier smirk. "You didn't answer my questions. Why's your test different? Why'd you mess up the answers?"I wrenched my arm free, pointedly lifting my hand so the ring on my finger caught the light—a plain silver band, but Lucas' mark all the same. "You turned in a blank paper. You don't get to ask questions."His gaze dropped to the ring. For a second, something flickered in his eyes—surprise? Disappointment? Then he held up his hands, palms out, in a lazy gesture of surrender.I walked away, my steps quick, eager to put this room, this day, behind me.But halfway down the hall, I heard his voice. Low, but clear enough to stop me in my tracks."Tell my brother," he said to his bodyguards, "I want to get into this school."I froze.Slowly, I turned. Ryan was already walking toward the door, his bodyguards trailing behind him. He didn't look back.This couldn't be happening. Ryan Farrell, the playboy, the future Alpha,

DarrenI walked into the penthous and let the front door slam shut behind me, the sound echoing through the empty rooms. Midnight had already gnawed at the edges of the day, and the half-moon seeped through the kitchen curtains, painting the linoleum in slanted silver.Half a month. Fourteen days and thirteen nights of fucking hotel sheets that reeked of human and bleach, of Leila's voice looping in my head like a broken record. Be careful. Come back to me.I'd come back. But she wasn't here.The feeling had started at dawn—a twist in my gut, sharp as a shard of glass. It had coiled tighter as the hours wore on, until by noon it felt like I was swallowing barbed wire. I'd dialed her number until my thumb ached, each ringtone a mocking buzz in my ear. Voicemail again. Leave a message. I left so many they blurred together- Hey, it's me. Just checking in. Leila, call me back. Please.She'd finished her exams this morning. That's what Cassius had texted, two days ago. She's got this. Says